Lost and Found
by Jaaannn
Summary: Hermione loses the love of her life. No explanation, no note, nothing. It's now three years later, and we find how she's coping.
1. Reminiscing

A/N: Okay so the idea for this story has been in my head for a while, but I didn't really know how to put it into an actual story, I guess. Anyway- here it is. It shouldn't be too long of a story and I'm still working on my other stories but you know.. this one's a little sadder. Musical tip: I listened to Brian Crain during the first chapter and I think that especially his song 'Wind' fit extremely well :)

Disclaimer: Okay, so say that I claimed Harry Potter as my own? You know what I'd hear with every word I wrote? Not-mine. Not-mine. Not-mine." And even if I was happy, okay, and, and typing very fast- "Not-not-mine, not-not-mine, not-not-mine, not-not-mine..."

** Chapter one: Reminiscing **

Hermione could barely swallow her tea when she read the date on her calendar. Today marked the day that it had been three years. Three years since their last kiss, three years since the last "goodnight Granger." Three years since she woke up to an empty bed with no trace of her boyfriend whatsoever. No explanations, no note, no half-empty cup of tea on the kitchen table- nothing. Three years since he left her, and three years since anybody had ever seen him. Or heard of him, for that matter.

She sighed and put back the box of cereal she had taken from the cabinet. Suddenly she wasn't hungry anymore. When she checked her watch she noticed that she had still half an hour left before she had to be at work, so she walked into her study- the study that he had given her as a surprise- and sat down on the comfortable chair in the corner. She sat down and closed her eyes, tears already starting to fall.

"_Close your eyes," she heard him say when she got through the door of their apartment. "Wh-", she started to ask but he cut her off. _

"_Just do it Granger, else it'll spoil the surprise." Hermione smiled. "You got me something?" He scoffed. "Not just something, I got you the best gift in the world. Or, you know, the best gift in the world that would fit in this tiny apartment." He took her hand and led her through their living room, into what had been their spare room. _

"_Okay," he said when he let go of her hand. "Open your eyes." She waited a second before she did so, still in the moment of imagining what he could've gotten her. When she opened her eyes, she let out a surprised gasp. She had been away for work for four days, and in the time that she hadn't been home, he had turned their spare room into a wonderful study. She turned around and hugged the man standing behind tightly._

"_That's wonderful Draco! How did you even manage to do all this in four days?" She asked as she walked along the walls that were now covered in bookcases. "I'm a superhero," Draco said with amusement in his voice. She turned around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Draco may have been a wonderful person and he was strong and determined, but there was no way that had done this all by himself in so little time. He smirked. "Fine, maybe I've had a little help, but the majority of this is all done by me. I take it you like it?" Hermione nodded as she inspected the rest of the room. The floors were a dark shade of wood, the walls were covered in bookcases, save for the door and the window and there was a deepblue sofa in one of the corners. Draco had set a picture of the two of them on one of the bookshelves and she also noticed that 'Hogwarts, A History' had gotten a prominent place. "I love it!" She exclaimed as she once more enveloped him in a big hug. She kissed his lips softly, expressing how grateful she was that he had done this for her._

Hermione was pulled out of her memory when her doorbell rang. She got up from the sofa and quickly dried her cheeks, hoping that her crying wasn't too obvious. When she opened the door, she looked into the three faces of her best friends. Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley-Potter all stood on her doorstep at- she quickly checked her watch- 8.45 on a Monday morning. "We're taking you out today," Ron stated while he barged into her apartment, looking for her coat and her purse. Ginny watched her brother with an irritated look on her face before she turned around and faced Hermione.

Hermione had been quiet, and stammered a few incoherent words. Ginny looked at Harry as if to ask if they should follow through with this plan. It had been her idea, but she wasn't too sure anymore when she saw Hermione's tearstrained face. On the other hand- that only made for more determination on the fiery redheads part.

"Guys.. what- why are you here?" Hermione finally managed to say. Ginny rolled her eyes at her best friend and stepped through the door, kissing her friends' cheek as she passed.

"Well, Ron put it quite blunt, but he was right. We're taking you out for the day. Harry already fixed it with Langstein- Nott is taking over your cases for today." Hermione looked at Harry for an explanation. Surely if her friends wanted to go through with this she had no choice but to be dragged along, but she also knew that Harry was her final chance out of this. Harry caught her look and followed his wife through the door, closing it behind him. In the meantime, Ginny had started her explanation that was supposed to lure Hermione into coming with them.

"And don't even pretend you don't know why we're here- we all have a calendar and we all checked it this morning. You're not going to sit around doing nothing all day- or worse, work yourself into oblivion. We're going to go into London, have a Muggle day out and we're going to be there for you. Whatever you need," she explained with a sincere look in her eyes.

Hermione looked over at Harry, who had been quiet during Ginny's explanation. She hoped that he would ask her if she really wanted to go, and then she could say no and then she could get back to her study and have some peace and quiet. Harry coughed.

"Hermione, I know it's a bit unexpected and you might not even want us here this early, but Gin and Ron are right. You need to get out of the house. It's been three years and even though I'm not telling you that you have to get over it and that your sorrow is something we don't care about- because we do- we want to see you happy. Sitting in your study, reading books and glancing at the photo of you two together is _not_ going to make you happy." He shot her a knowing look, telling her that he knew that had been her plan when she found out what day today was.

Hermione's shoulders slumped in defeat. They were right, of course. She looked up when she heard a door slam in her apartment, heavy footsteps going through her living room and kitchen.

"Hey, 'Mione," Ron called from the kitchen. "Where do you keep your keys? They're not in your purse and- never mind! I've got 'em." Ron emerged from her bedroom, coat, purse and keys in hand. He looked at his friend and held out her coat for her to put on. "Ready to go?"

Hermione sighed. "Fine," she said. "Let's go."

A/N: did anyone catch my 'friends' inspired disclaimer? ;)


	2. Breakfast at home, alone

A/N: Ramyfan reviewed (for which I thank you!) that he/she hoped that Hermione started living. I hope it gets clear in this chapter that Hermione hasn't been a weepy, sad girl since Draco went missing. It's Hermione Granger, after all!

Disclaimer: Ah- the sheer sadness of not owning Harry Potter.

Hermione smiled as she and her friends sat down in a busy lunch café, after having spent the biggest part of their morning touring London. Harry and Hermione knew London, of course, but Ginny and Ron had only seen King's Cross and a few snippets of the big city when they were with Harry or Hermione. The conversation between the three friends consisted of what it had always consisted of: playful bantering, a few curse words here and there and a lot of understanding looks between Harry and Hermione when the two Weasley siblings once more got into an argument. Hermione had so far loved every minute of their day, and was glad that her friends had dragged her with them.

When the waiter came, they all quickly decided to take fries and a burger, with extra fries for Ronald, and regular beers for the four of them. Harry shot Hermione a look as Ginny and Ron debated whether Muggle beer was better than Butterbeer. "Are you okay?" He asked with a slight indication of worry in his voice.

Hermione looked at him and smiled widely. "You know what Harry, I'm better than okay," she answered. It was true. She may still feel a bit of sadness in her stomach, but going out with her friends had definitely proved a better option than sitting alone by herself all day. At least now, she was surrounded by those she loved most. The waiter came and soon all that could be heard at the table were the sounds of people eating. Or, you know, whatever Ron called the thing he does during mealtimes.

She took a bite before she focused on Ginny. "So," she asked while Ron and Harry discussed Quidditch. "What's new with you? It feels like I haven't seen you in ages, between my job, your Quidditch career and everything that has been going on lately. Any exciting news or rumours I should know about?" Ginny swallowed and grinned at Hermione.

"Well, you'll never guess what mum asked me last week," she said before taking a swig of her beer. "If she should already start knitting baby clothes," Ginny laughed. Hermione giggled. Everybody knew Molly was a sucker for grandchildren, but she fully understood while Ginny was laughing. "I'm merely 23! I told her no, that I wanted to focus on Quidditch first, and that Harry and I aren't even thinking of having children yet. I mean, we've been married for two years, sure, but we're both still so young," she said with a smile.

"Do you two think about the future, though?" Hermione asked. Ginny took a bite and nodded while chewing. "We do, yes," she admitted. "But not about when we're going to have children. I mean, we both want to have a family, sure, but right now- Harry just finished Auror training, I'm playing in an international Quidditch team that travels around the world and we're still so young," she said. "I want to enjoy my freedom first, as does Harry. I mean, his whole life he has been in the spotlights, and we both know that the minute news gets out I'm pregnant, the whole Wizarding world is going to watch us like hawks. Right now it's just easier to enjoy our life together."

"_Do you want to have a family one day?" Hermione lay in Draco's arms, cosy and warm in their bed. She thought for a minute. "I'm not sure," she answered. Something in Draco's chest rumbled. Hermione looked up at his face. "Are you laughing at me?" she asked with amusement evident in her voice. He chuckled. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just that you're Hermione Granger, brightest witch of our age, and I'm sure that this is the first time I heard you say you don't know something." She swatted him in the stomach and rolled over on her back. "Git." She smiled as he laughed and wrapped his arm around her._

After their late lunch, the three friends decided to go watch a movie in one of the many theatres in London. Their was a brief discussion between the women and the men, as their were two movies about to start: a romantic comedy and an action movie. Ginny and Hermione wanted to go see the romantic comedy while the men wanted some action. They decided that they would part ways here, the movies ended fifteen minutes after each other so the women could easily wait for the men to come back from the entertainment.

Later that evening, when Hermione shut her door after waving her friends goodbye, she took a deep breath. _That went relatively well,_ she thought. She nodded to herself before she checked the kitchen clock. 8 p.m. Too early to go to bed, but she was sure there would be a movie on the telly. She quickly changed into her pyjamas and grabbed a blanket from her bed before she made herself comfortable on the couch. She zapped for a while before she stumbled on one of her favourite movies. She sighed as she snuggled deeper into the pillows. Holly Golightly was just stepping into her apartment; she hadn't missed too much yet.

"_What is it that you like so much about this Audi-figure?" Hermione frowned. "It's Audrey, and she's perfect. So elegant, so very much herself," Hermione sighed. Draco didn't look convinced. "It seems to me that she's running away from her problems," he stated. Hermione looked at him. "She's trying to find her place in the world!" Hermione exclaimed as she returned her attention to the movie playing on the screen. "Well, still," Draco started but was cut off when Hermione's hand covered his mouth, her eyes never leaving the screen._

Hermione woke with a start when a loud applause came from the television. She checked her watch. 01.39, _I must've fallen asleep_. She quickly turned off the telly and went into her bathroom. After she quickly brushed her teeth and tied her hair up she dove under the covers and closed her eyes._ "I still miss you," _was the last thought she had before she drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Well, what do you think?


	3. That's it, I quit, I'm moving on

A/N: So, pretty long chapter this time, compared to the other two. This idea started out as something for a short story, but I think I can make this my longest yet.

Disclaimer: N'est pas mon

Chapter 3: That's it, I quit, I'm moving on.

The next morning, Hermione got up early. After yesterday, she decided that it was time to get on with her life. Yes, Draco was gone and yes, he had been the love of her life but he was gone now, and had been for sometime. Nobody knew where he was, nobody had heard of him and there were no traces as to what may have happened to him. The first thing she did was moving the photo of them together from the wall to a drawer in her bedroom. The next thing she did was throwing out all of his t-shirts that she had kept. Save for one, because even though she was moving on, she wanted something to remember him by. After that, she went through the cabinet in her bathroom and threw everything that had belonged to Draco in a garbage bag, which she then put outside.

She drank her tea and had a quick breakfast of cereal before she floo'd over to work, where Nott was waiting for her so that she could catch up on yesterday's cases. "Morning Granger," Nott greeted her when she walked into their shared office. "Good morning Theo, how was your weekend?" She asked as she took off her coat and hung it on the hook beside the door. She walked over and sat down at her desk, opening the dossier that Theo had put there for her. "It was okay, I suppose," Theo answered as he went to sit down at his own desk, opposite of Hermione's.

"I visited my father, and Saturday I went out with Blaise for drinks. He's still whining about you, by the way." He snickered at Hermione's irritated face. She knew that Blaise had had a thing for her when they both had returned to Hogwarts, but he never made a move because everybody knew Draco had her heart. However, after Draco's disappearance, he had asked her out a few times, which she had somehow been able to get around each time. She didn't want to date anyone right now, _especially _not a man who at one point had been her boyfriend's best friend. Besides; Blaise was a slag, everybody knew that. If she went out with him, he probably just wanted sex and then she was off his radar for the rest of her life.

"_So do you want to make this official, then?" Hermione looked up at Draco, who sat opposite her at her favourite table at the Library. It was 10 in the evening, and they actually were supposed to leave. However, since Madam Pince trusted Hermione not to set fire to her books, she left her the key to lock up when she left. "What?" Hermione asked confused. She had just been reading a particularly hard chapter on Charms and hadn't quite caught what Draco was saying. Draco smirked. "You, me, dating, official then," he repeated as he gestured his hand between the two of them. "Oh," Hermione blushed as she got what he meant. "Well, you're not being very romantic about it," she teased to hide her embarrassment. Draco scoffed. "I'm not a romantic person." Then he moved his hand from behind his back and showed her the single, deep blue rose he held between his fingers. "But for you, I'll try."_

"Has anything important happened yesterday?" Hermione asked as she closed the dossier. Theo shook his head. "Not really, everything that happened was in that dossier you just read." Hermione nodded. She retrieved her white coat from the hook on which it hung. "I'm going to do my rounds," she announced and waved at Theo as he wished her good luck.

A good two hours later, Hermione barged into the office and sat down with a huff. Immediately, she stood back up and started pacing. Theo, who had been working on getting ingredients listed for a potion that prevented loss of eyesight, looked up in understanding. "You spoke to Langstein, didn't you?" Hermione turned around and walked up to Theo. She slammed his quill out of his hand and planted both her hands on his desk. Theo leaned back a bit, not because he was scared, but just out of safety.

"For the record Nott, next time I ask you if something important happened, and you say no, think again. Cutting our budget because of some stupid, _stupid_ bint that wants new wall coverings in the lobby _is_ important. We're going to lose three thousand galleons a year! Do you know what we can do with that money? We can do research for new potions, new ways to help people! Hell, with three thousand dollars we could make a good start on that Children's Wing we've been talking about but nooooo," Hermione was now frantically moving her hands in the air, and her hair seemed to be buzzing with angry electricity.

"Let's redecorate the lobby! Because what matters to people is that the lobby where they come through with life-threatening accidental slip up- whatever it is that they have is more important than taking good care of people! What that bitch was thinking I don't know I just _hope_ that they cancel it really quickly because if they don't I swear to Merlin I will throw a bitchfit," she muttered as she walked back to her desk.

Theo raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you throw a bitchfit just now?" Hermione whipped around angrily. "Now's _not_ the time, Theo." She sighed and grinned as Theo started to laugh.

"I'm sorry," she said. "It's just, it's so much money! And if they were going to do something good with it, fine. But instead of redecorating the lobby and the rest of the hospital, can't they buy more comfortable beds? Or new ingredients for potions? Or use the money to research how we can help the wizarding community better? Merlin knows that's what we really need, not some stupid new colour on the walls," she ended her speech. "Ugh," she sighed. Then she checked her watch. "It's still a bit early, but I'm going to go to lunch, do you want to come?" Theo shook his head. "I need to get this done before one, else we're not getting any ingredients _at all_. I'll see you later, have fun!" Hermione smiled and walked out of the office.

* * *

When she walked back from lunch, she ran into Harry and Ginny. "Gin! What are you two doing here?" Hermione asked with worry in her voice. Harry blushed. "Nothing, see you later!" And proceeded to walk away.

Ginny, however, was much more help. She rolled her eyes at Harry who was still trying to walk away, and yanked him back by his elbow. "My _idiot_ husband over here thought that it was a good idea to climb onto the roof to clean the gutter."

She shook her head as if to indicate how stupid Harry had been before she continued. "And _then,_ right as I was in the middle of telling him to come down because we all know that Harry is as clumsy as a newborn, _he fell down._"

She took her husband by the arm and held him close to her. "We're just on our way to the healer," she explained. "He has pain in his back and his neck, and I'm not going to take any risks anymore."

Hermione had to suppress a giggle. Harry may have defeated the darkest wizard of all times, but Ginny had been right- he was as clumsy as what. Ginny squeezed Hermione's arm as a goodbye, before she turned around to walk after Harry.

"Oh by the way!" she said, looking over her shoulder at Hermione. "Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? I'm making pasta!" Hermione nodded. "I'll be there at seven, alright?" Ginny waved her hand above her head. "That's fine! See you tonight Hermione!" Hermione shook her head as she watched her friends walk through the hallway. Harry was walking a bit difficult, she noticed. She shrugged; it didn't seem like something a potion couldn't fix.

* * *

Dinner at the Potters' was always a busy event. Of course, after Ginny had invited Hermione over, she decided that she might as well invite a few other people. Hermione walked through the door and into the dining room where she was greeted by several enthusiastic cheers. She counted heads and realized that Ginny had invited most of her Quidditch team, plus George and Angelina. Someone bumped into her. _Oh, and Ron. That makes 15 people in total. _

"Hey 'Mione," Ron greeted her with a kiss on her cheek. "Hey Ron," she smiled. They walked into the room together, Ron being pulled into a chair by his brother, already deep in discussion when Hermione reached the kitchen.

"Need any help?" She asked Ginny who sat on the kitchen table, reading a Quidditch magazine. There were several pots and pans on the stove, spoons being bewitched to do as Ginny directed. Ginny looked up and gave her friend a brief smile before she put the magazine away and started pulling plates from the cabinet. "Hey, good to see you made it! And yes, if you could bring these to the dining room? Dinner should be ready in about five minutes," she said.

"Alright," Hermione answered as she grabbed the plates and made her way back to the dining room. She stood there for a minute, watching the scene in front of her. Ron and George were having a heated discussion, Harry sat near the fire, chatting with a few of Ginny's team mates and there was a game of Wizard's chess going on in the corner. Hermione cringed as a particularly violent knight smashed one of the black horses. Despite the violence going on, she smiled.

She loved having dinner with Harry and Ginny, because it was never quiet and there were always plenty of stories to listen to and theories to think about. Besides- Ginny had inherited her mother's gift for cooking, so that alone made for a lovely evening.

After Hermione had put the plates on the immense dining table, she went back to the kitchen to find Ginny pouring a bit of wine in the sauce. Hermione watched her friend for a minute.

"You're awfully quiet tonight," she observed. Ginny gasped in shock and nearly dropped the bottle of wine. "Who taught you to sneak up on people like that!?" She exclaimed as she waved her hand to clean up the wine she had spilled.

"I've hunted down pieces of the soul of the darkest wizard of all times- I've done my sneaking," Hermione smirked. "What's up?" She asked as she went to sit on the kitchen table, swinging her legs a little. "Nothing much," Ginny confessed. "Just had a little scare this morning, and I think that's why I'm a bit tired right now."

"_Why are you so quiet tonight?" Draco asked as Hermione snuggled closer to him on the couch in the living room. She put her legs on the couch, folding them under her. Her eyes were drooping and Draco's words hardly came through. "Mmm, tired," she mumbled. "Why?" He whispered. She sighed and buried her face in his chest. "Long day at work, annoying patients, Langstein was on my back for the entire day about this research I want funded but he wants to see proof or something and to top it off Nott spilled his coffee over my papers so that was a mess," she groaned. She heard a rumble in Draco's chest and swatted him. "Don't laugh," she frowned. "It's not funny." She let out a huge yawn and put Draco's arm around her. Draco smiled and started to play with her unruly curls, slowly lulling her to sleep._

"Is dinner ready yet?" Ron walked through the door, George in tow. "Yeah," George added. "You promised us a delicious pasta, and I'm getting kinda hungry." Hermione smiled as she shook her head. Those two would never change. Ginny swatted Ron's fingers away from the saucepan. "Don't do that," she snapped. "You may not care for hygiene, but there's an entire Quidditch team in there that _does._" Ron looked pained before he turned to Hermione. "How you feelin' today, 'Mione?" He walked over to the kitchen table and sat next to her, draping his arm around her shoulder. Hermione rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes for a moment.

"I feel good, actually. I decided to throw out all Draco's stuff this morning. He's been gone for so long now, he's not coming back," the last part was said with a slight tremble in her voice. Ron squeezed her shoulder in comfort and pulled one of her curls, watching it bounce back. "That's good to hear," he quietly said before jumping off the table and grabbing the bottle of wine. Two seconds later, enthusiastic noises could be heard in the kitchen. Ginny grinned. "I guess he told them dinner is ready. Would you take those," she gestured to the plates with fresh baked bread, "then I'll carry these and we can get this show on the road." Laughing, Hermione followed Ginny into the dining room, where Ginny was being praised over her delicious smelling dinner. "Just wait 'till you've tasted it," George said with a mischievous grin. A few people raised their eyebrows. "Don't worry," Ginny said with a stern look at George. "He hasn't touched any of the food." George smirked. "That's what you think." Before he started to pile his plate with pasta and bread.

Later that evening, when Hermione got back at her flat, she felt content. The rest of the evening at Harry and Ginny's place had been fun. Quidditch stories had dominated the conversation, but Hermione didn't mind- she had always been better at listening than telling anyway. Ginny's teammates had shown great interest in Hermione's idea for research, and her plan to get a Children's Wing set up in St. Mungo's. When she explained that their budget was being cut, they had all been offended, as if it was their budget being cut. Ideas to raise money had been thrown on the table, and Hermione felt grateful that they seemed to be so interested and connected to the hospital. She walked up the stairs to her door, only to find that it was no longer closed.

A/N: Ah it's a (_extremely lame)_ cliffy! I can't tell you what's going to happen yet because I haven't written that part.. Any guesses? I'm still trying to decide between three things, haha! Tell me what you thought of this chapter; what you think happened to Hermione's door and whether you think Hermione is ever going to see Draco again!


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